Rent Laurel and Hardy: Vol.19: Pardon Us (1928)

Stir Crazy. - Laurel and Hardy: Vol.19: Pardon Us review by Steve

Laurel and Hardy's debut feature is a mixed bag. Years of making shorts ensures their double act is fully evolved by '31. But the early sound production values are rudimentary and there's a meagre budget. It's a pastiche of the vogue for prison films, like The Big House, released a year earlier. The boys are sent down for bootlegging, where Stan's vibrating tooth gets them into the customary scrapes.

There's the usual problem for comic artists in adapting from short films; how to get the routines to stretch to feature length. This takes the standard option of padding out the comedy with musical numbers. The gags stop for about 15 minutes while Ollie sings (well), Stan dances (badly) and various guest vocalists get a turn in the spotlight.

All this was edited down to 55m to tighten the material for release. But ever since, film restorers have been putting the cuts back in! So now it's 68m and the pace is a little slow. The other negative is the stars appear in blackface. Viewers will adopt a diverse range of views on this, but it's at least disappointing to watch the eternal pals doing this stuff.

But for those willing to set this aside, Stan and Ollie are in fine form. When the material is weak, they still make it funny. It's great just to see them bickering. Then there's all the subtext for the critics. But my favourite bit is Ollie's line to Stan, which is a profound summation of his self-delusion: 'You're actually using your brain. That's what comes from associating with me!'